A coaching way of teaching

A coaching way of teaching moves us on from the industrial and information age of education to an organic, model-based approach centred around people and purpose that incorporates the skills of effective coaching.

To enact a coaching way of teaching we will need to engage three approaches:

·????? Formal: you are the teacher

·????? Non-formal: you are the facilitator

·????? Informal: you are the coach

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In a formal approach the teacher will:

·????? be contracting to set behaviour expectations

·????? be planning sequenced lessons including objectives and outcomes and engaging students through questioning, assessment and feedback

·????? be directive and knowledge-based around curriculum, exams and tests have a reliance on benchmarking of standards in relation to appraisals and observations

·????? timetable lessons around phases, age and subjects

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In a non-formal approach the facilitator will:

·????? co-create content with the students

·????? display fundamental coaching skills such as active listening, open questioning as well as recognising energy blocks such a limiting beliefs and assumptions that prevent learning taking place

·????? focus on the student, developing self-management with the facilitator showing sensitivity to student’s needs

·????? harness group coaching techniques as the learning environment becomes more fluid such as action learning sets

·????? still scaffold learning at times with students developing agency

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In an informal approach the coach will:?

·????? stand back and become less of a teacher and more of a coach

·????? support learning rather than being the expert at all times; outcomes are determined by the learning process itself

·????? allow the breakdown of hierarchy and encourage effective dialogue at the heart of interactions

·????? allow students to choose content, across a range of subjects and phases

·????? place the onus on the development of teams and shared learning

To enact a coaching way of teaching we need a blended application of all three approaches: formal, non-formal and informal. All are needed at different times as we move from teacher to facilitator to coach, although not necessarily in that order! A first step could be identifying opportunities of when to engage with the three approaches across your own teaching practice in a series of lessons or over a longer period of time.

This article is taken from our book 'All Ways Coaching' available on Amazon here

You can find more information on our award-winning coaching programmes here